Dr. Bob Maninger author of FLINT

Synopsis for Flint


In the small Oklahoma community of Flint, Dr. Bill Spence pursues a ruthless serial killer. The murderer is determined to make these crimes appear as though the Cheyenne are responsible. Diamond Oil Company refinery workers have gone out on strike and the tension is mounting. The evidence at the crime scene is a graphic replication of Native American battlefield mutilations. Bill Spence’s area of expertise leads him to uncover the killer’s intended scenario replicating the Greasy Grass battlefield. Bill receives assistance from his good friend and Cheyenne insider, Ben Freeman, as he navigates each terrifying crime collecting clues to help the local police solve these grizzly murders. Ben is implicated even though he appears to be above such a crime spree, because he keeps showing up at the scene at the wrong time. The Cheyenne decide it is time to step outside the law and perform the Sun Dance to purify their people. Bill relies on his friend Kristine to keep him focused on the terrible discoveries he makes as the killer seems to be focusing on Bill and intending to clue him in on the next move. Bill Spence starts to put the elements of the crimes together when he runs into an old high school sweetheart who has mysteriously moved back to Flint to date a man that suddenly becomes a person of interest in Bill’s mind. Bill swings by Kristine’s place to see her and discovers that she is missing. The police chase that ensues takes them to Tommy Nash and the Diamond Oil museum housed in the old family mansion. Can Bill make it to the serial killer before he ends Kristine’s life or will she be his latest victim?

Bob Maninger's Bio:

Bob Maninger grew up in Ponca City, Oklahoma, and graduated from Po-Hi in 1979. He spent twenty years as a teacher and administrator in public and private schools in Iowa and Texas. He taught Math and US History. His love of history came naturally as his family was a part of the movement of settlers into the panhandle of Oklahoma 125 years ago. He is known is some circles as Dr. Maninger as he graduated from the University of North Texas with a doctorate in 2003. His move into academia has included a position at TCU and at Sam Houston State University.

He is currently an assistant professor at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. Bob is published in academic journals and regular magazines. The topics of these articles include technology integration into the classroom, educational administration, and sustainability of natural resources. Dr. Maninger has had success with grant work as well. He’s even had an artistic furniture piece exhibit in a gallery in north Texas.

Dr. Maninger has a prolific record of conference presentations and teacher development workshops, too numerous to detail. He has also successfully taught nearly thirty different courses in academia to date. His honors include; the College of Education Outstanding Award for Teaching Nominee, the Outstanding Doctoral Student in C&I (twice), the KDP Doctoral Scholarship, and Administrator of the Year.

His books include the novel Flint and the non-fiction piece The Mathews Family. Bob first wrote and self-published The Mathews Family a two-part expose of members of his mother’s family. The first part tells the stories of his grandparents homesteading adventures in Oklahoma. The second part details stories of three uncles that went off to World War II and came home.

Flint is a novel in the murder mystery genre. A serial killer is running around the fictional town of Flint, Oklahoma killing a specific way that implicates local Cheyenne. The main character is a history teacher who is a student of the Cheyenne culture and historical studies. He helps local police solve the crime and find the killer.

Bob has two children, Laura (a student at UNT) and Clay (a student at SHSU), who have become passionate adventurers in their own way. He has a friend and fiancé, talented artist in her own right, Edie Wells. He also has another significant member of the family, Drew Brosnan, a talented IT guy who hangs out with Laura a lot. Bob enjoys advocating for and living an environmentally sustainable life, gardening, reading, hunting, fishing, and college athletics.

This is what Bob has to say about the writing of Flint:

I wrote Flint after having completed a non-fiction piece about my family. Of course, one’s family is supposed to like that, but other colleagues seemed to appreciate the stories and encouraged me to try the fiction genre.

The story came from life experiences and the “school stories” were fictionalized versions of things that have happened to me in my career. The serial killer and the cop actions I needed a little research to complete, but I had some help from friends that are in law enforcement.

I hope that Flint will be the first in a series. I have nearly completed the second one and have ideas for the third. I recently visited Mali, Africa and have another different kind of mystery novel spinning out of that journey. I write a lot, my profession requires that, as a university professor it is definitely publish or perish. I have endured enough in this arena to start to write about things I am passionate about, and one of those passions is Native Americans. I want all of our writing to properly reflect the Native American culture in a wonderful and exciting way. My first attempt at that was to make the Cheyenne the “good guys”, which was not difficult.

The idea was to make this novel tell a story, several in fact, with a few twists to the plot. I have had very good reaction to the book and I look forward to many more to come.

And to learn more about Bob and his books, visit http://www.bobmaninger.com